Report: Huawei Accidentally Installs GoPro Quik App On Phones

Some Huawei smartphone owners have been reporting an issue where Huawei installs an app on their devices without them receiving a notification of the arrival of the app, according to a new report out of Android Planet. The app in question is Quik, which is offered by GoPro and looks to provide users with a way to edit video on the fly. So arguably the app will be of use to those looking for better mobile video editing tools. The app is available to download from the Google Play Store and is a free to download app.

However, not only has the app seemingly started appearing on some Huawei phones without the user being asked or informed, but it also seems to be a mistake in the first place. The same report details how Huawei has responded to the original article explaining the installation of the app was the result of an “internal error.” With the response reportedly going on to state that the company is looking further into the matter and in the meantime users can uninstall the app.

Speaking of which, for device owners who do find themselves in this situation it seems uninstalling the app, while not anymore complicated than a normal uninstall, may appear as though it is. This is due to the app seemingly adopting the position of a system app - apps that are typically not that easy to remove. However, its system status is only at the appearance level. To explain this, when uninstalling the app the user is prompted that it is a system app and instead of being fully uninstalled the app states that it is reverting to the factory version. Thereby giving the impression it is only removing the updates to the app. But again, according to the information coming through, the app is being completely removed in spite of the prompt suggestion otherwise. For owners of Huawei phones that may be concerned about this, at present it is unclear how widespread the issue is. The instances in this report originate out of Holland and it could be the case that only Huawei devices in Holland are affected. Likewise it is currently unclear how many Huawei models are affected with the report only referencing the Mate 10 Pro and the Honor 9 so far.

John has been writing about and reviewing tech products since 2014 after making the transition from writing about and reviewing airlines. With a background in Psychology, John has a particular interest in the science and future of the industry. Besides adopting the Managing Editor role at AH John also covers much of the news surrounding audio and visual tech, including cord-cutting, the state of Pay-TV, and Android TV. Contact him at [email protected]